Who Should Adapt ‘At Home’? Microdynamics of Social Exchange for Reciprocal Integration Among Migrants and Hosts

Large-scale sociological studies have confirmed the rise of prejudice against migrants in various European societies (Semyonov et al., 2006), but the underlying micro-social dynamics and implications for host engagement with migrants, and vice versa, are not well understood. An understanding of exchange dynamics between hosts and migrants is crucial in designing measures to support harmonious relations, improve professional and social opportunities for both groups, and mitigate potentially self-exclusionary tendencies, such as radicalization (Lyons-Padilla et al., 2015). Host societies that are unable or unwilling to engage in exchange with migrants risk missing out on their potential professional and/or social contributions; and even experience challenges to their collective sense of non-belonging ‘at home’ (Kymlicka, 2013). Migrants who cannot or will not exchange with hosts may find their access to jobs, financial services, and education limited, hindering their social integration and depriving them of ‘participation parity’ (Fraser, 2003) and a sense of belonging in the host society (Cheah et al., 2013; Croucher et al., 2016; Salignac et al., 2016), and increasing the risk that both groups may engage in self-protective strategies such as self-exclusion or ‘self-encapsulation’ (EC, 2008; Rezaei, 2002).